Tuesday, December 30, 2014

We all make New Year’s resolutions but rarely keep them.
Why? Because promising to lose some weight or exercise more isn’t
fun. How much better to make a resolution that you want to keep —like
updating your home theater? That’s a resolution worth keeping and, with
the latest technologies now more affordable than ever, there’s
no reason not to start the New Year than by having a better television and
speaker system than in the old year. Let’s look at exactly
what the choices now are.

New Year’s
Resolution #1 — A
Big Screen TV

One of the best things about today’s televisions are
their size. TVs have gotten bigger in size —19”was
the standard over a dozen years ago, but now 50”and
greater —much greater —is commonplace in homes.

•A Large TV: Think 55” & greater —the
more people can watch without being crowded. In the old days, whoever was seated
dead-center to the display (on a couch, etc.) had the best view, while those
seated next to him or her didn’t —and
those seated farther at the edges suffered. With bigger TVs, so too comes a wider angle of view for
those watching.

•The Movie Experience: Going to the movies always
meant a bigger screen than what you could see at home, but now that’s
not true (proportionally speaking). A 65”or
even a 70” TV can be had at costs
once thought unheard of —not to mention that there’s
even 79” and larger TV displays to be had.

New Year’s
Resolution #2 — A
Better Resolution TV

Another change to today’s televisions is the “resolution”which
affects how much detail is seen when watching a TV show or a movie. The higher
the resolution, the greater the amount of detail to be found. But that’s
not all there is to it. The increase in resolution over the “old
school”TVs also improves the contrast and colors, not to mention
the blacks which are so vital to making the picture being displayed look
realistic.

•Up-Scaling: The television knows what to do with
high-definition content when it gets it —be
that from a cable box, satellite receiver or a video source player —but
it also knows that not all of the content it is getting matches the level of
resolution that it can display. So technology inside takes that content and “tweaks”it
to be more dynamic and to perform more appropriately when it splashes across
the display. Read that as look much better than it would otherwise.

•4K TVs: Televisions employing 4K resolution are able to display content with 4X
that of HDTV, with a corresponding increase in those areas of contrast, color
and blacks. Nothing special has to be done to take advantage of what a 4K TV can do —it’s
treated like any other TV and that includes the lightweight and sleek nature
that TVs are now expected to have. Just turn it on, sit back and enjoy the
show.

•Organic LED (OLED) 4K TVs: These televisions
provide a high-resolution view and, due to the display’s construction,
have no limitations on the amount of contrast they can display (i.e.,
infinite). They also possess a high color range (i.e., brilliant color) and the
ability to display black areas amazingly. This enhances the image quality
overall. Plus Organic LED (OLED) TVs have an exceedingly wide
angle of view: those to the side of the TV (i.e., not “dead-center”)
don’t lose out on any of the brightness or color —the
view is even and the colors distinct.

New Year’s
Resolution #3 — Better
Audio

TVs make for a great picture, but sound —no,
for that you want a separate component. Speakers by their very nature need to
have room to “breathe”and that requires an enclosure with
enough space for them to exist inside. Compared to the minimal space that a TV
allocates for its speakers, a separate speaker will perform better and provide
more dynamic and enjoyable sound.

•Sound Bars: A sound bar contains all the speakers needed in a
slim package that, while not taking up much room, enhances the decor that the
TV has been placed in. They can be sized to be similar to that of the TV, so
when placed below they don’t jar the senses, and contain all the
electronics needed to do the job. And in a simple but effective manner —in
most cases a single cable is all that is needed to connect between it and the
TV. Add the inclusion, in many cases, of a wireless subwoofer, and does the sound ever “sound”so
much better now.

•Audio/Video Receivers: For those who prefer
placing speakers around the room (so as to have a dedicated surround sound
effect), the power that comes from an A/V receiver can’t be
underestimated. Updating to a new receiver doesn’t mean replacing
all the audio —just make sure to stay within the power range of the
speakers —but it does allow for greater volume and the addition of new
technologies, such as Bluetooth. And for those looking to use the receiver as
an A/V switcher so as to minimize the number of remotes needed, the addition of
3D and 4K pass-through is now available.

New Year’s Resolution #3— Better Content

What you watch is up to you —but
getting it to your TV will happen either through streaming (requiring a home
network and an online connection) or through a video source player.

•Network Capability: In order to watch
high-definition content through streaming, the home network’s
Internet connection must be “fast.”Cost
ties in directly to just how “fast”, but there’s
also the issue of the area where you are located —not
all high-speed connections are available in all areas. Fortunately even slower
speeds are able to be taken by today’s televisions and modulated into
highly enjoyable pictures.

•Cable boxes/Satellite Receivers: Depending on
the service provider you choose (or is available for your area), high-definition content can be provided to
you through the same service currently offering television shows. This has the
advantage of being taken care of for you by the service provider —you
sit back and enjoy while they take care of the tech in the background.

•Blu-ray Player: A Blu-ray player has the ability of playing local
content (i.e., on a disc) and so doesn’t care whether there’s
an Internet connection or
not. Blu-ray discs are able to provide a consistent HD picture because there’s
no external issues that could cause interference. And of course they can play
DVDs even better than the DVD players can.

•4K Media Players: Still relatively rare, these players provide 4K high-resolution video on demand;
they download the content for you and store it for use before you choose to
watch it. For all practical purposes it is no different from using a Blu-ray
player, in that the Media Player is connected to the 4K TV and
functions in tandem with it as the content is local.

Improving your home theater is not only fun to do, but
will benefit everyone in your family. When’s
the last time a New Year’s resolution promised
to do that?